Microfiche are generally known and are formed of transparent cards or bases bearing rows and columns of image frames. Some microfiche are of an "assembled" type wherein individual frames or groups of frames are cut from a roll of film and mounted on a transparent base or card. The present invention relates to mounters for use in making microfiche of the assembled type.
Different sized bases, different widths of filmstrips, different frame sizes, and different numbers of rows and columns are possible and have been used. A length of filmstrip having a succession of frames of microimages has an adhesive strip along each side edge with a protective or release strip covering the adhesive. To mount the image frames, the release strips are peeled off the adhesive strips, a frame or a number of frames are cut from the leading end of the filmstrip, and the cut-off length is secured to the base by pressing it in the proper location to secure an adhesive bond. Some frames on a microfiche can be permanent, other frames can be removed and replaced, and a microfiche can be completely or partially filled with frames when originally made and can have other frames substituted for original frames or added to original frames at a later time.
In the prior art, image frames were mounted on a microfiche base by semi-automatic equipment that required considerable human intervention and manual operations. Coded instructions were transmitted to the machine from a computer. The machine decoded the instructions and indicated to an operator where the images were to be mounted. The machine also advanced the filmstrip, peeled off the release strips, and cut away the number of image frames called for by the coded instructions, and the operator manually mounted the cut-off film on the base with the aid of a vacuum tool and an alignment grid overlying the base. The machine projected images and displayed coded information to assist the operator in locating the destination for the image frames, but operator error caused substantial problems in misplacing image frames and misregistering the image frames with their destination regions. Such mounting was also relatively slow and expensive and proved even more costly from errors in registration or placement.
The invention involves recognition of the problems in prior art mounting of microfiche and realization of ways to solve the problems and make a fully automatic machine that is fast and accurate in both placing and registering image frames on a microfiche base. The invention aims at economy, reliability, accuracy, and savings in labor, material, and time in making or mounting microfiche. The inventive apparatus provides fully automatic equipment responsive to data stored in or produced by a computer or by instructions encoded on a filmstrip to accomplish all the operations necessary in mounting image frames on a microfiche base, including filmstrip advancing, positioning, cutting, displaying of images and code material, automatic mounting, monitoring of machine operations, displaying indications of machine operations and any possible errors, allowing manual control, and accommodating keyboard entry of instructions.